Requests for documents submitted by Sky-Hi News to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office regarding the death of 7-year-old Isaiah Stark in 2020 were denied for reasons related to child protection laws.

An investigative report published by The Denver Post on May 21 detailed the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of Stark who died from ingesting too much sodium, likely due to drinking olive brine, the county coroner said.

The parents of Isaiah reportedly used olives and olive brine as a form of punishment, a mandatory reporter also told a child abuse hotline.

On May 29, the sheriff’s office responded to a records request from Sky-Hi News for all available records and bodycam footage from the investigation of Stark’s death with a blanket denial based on the fact that the case and all investigative files involve a child.

The Children’s Code states that reports of child abuse or neglect and the name and address of any child, family or informant shall be confidential and shall not be public information. The sheriff’s office also referred to a state statue that writes that any person who improperly releases or otherwise permits the release of information in child abuse or neglect cases can be found guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor.

“Due to the fact the records you have requested involve the investigation of alleged child abuse, the records are not public records and may not be released per statute,” wrote Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin in the response letter.

Schroetlin also reiterated that the case was reviewed by numerous agencies other than the sheriff’s office.

“It is critical to reference my previously released statement; that in addition to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, Grand County Coroner’s Office, and 14th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, this case was also investigated/reviewed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office,” Schroetlin wrote.

The code that was cited by the sheriff’s office about being unable to release reports of child abuse or neglect applies to requests made to the Department of Human Services, not law enforcement, according to civil litigator Steven Zanzberg of Zansberg Beylkin LLC.

In the case of criminal investigations done by a sheriff’s office or other criminal law enforcement agency concerning abuse of a child, only identifying information such as the name and address of a child, family member or informant remains confidential and is not considered public information.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation did release records on their investigation into Stark’s death, although a significant portion of the documents were redacted. The CBI ultimately closed the case.

New Colorado legislation, that went into effect on Jan. 1, allows agencies to deny Colorado Open Records Act requests for the autopsy reports of minors. House Bill 24-1244, signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis in May 2024, declares that an autopsy report related to the death of a minor “is not a public record” as defined by CORA.

Matt Karzen, the District Attorney for the 14th Judicial District, confirmed that his office has no plans to seek prosecution related to the death of Isaiah Stark due to insufficient evidence.

“We do not have plans for any prosecution related to the death of Isaiah Stark because there was, and remains, insufficient evidence to prove that a crime occurred, specifically that any identifiable person engaged in conduct causing Isaiah’s death with one of the culpable mental states required for such a prosecution under Colorado law,” Karzen said.

Karzen echoed that the case had been reviewed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and that the Colorado Attorney General’s Office investigated and review this matter independent of any Grand County agencies. Neither agency reached the conclusion that criminal prosecution was appropriate.

Stephanie Villafuerte, Colorado’s child protection ombudsman, had expressed her concerns with the handling of the case in The Denver Post report. The ombudsman received a complaint in May 2022 about Isaiah’s death and the reporting party was concerned that there hadn’t been a thorough investigation due to the fact that Jonathan Stark, Isaiah’s father, works in law enforcement for the Granby Police Department.

The state’s Child Fatality Review Team conducted an assessment of Isaiah’s death and concluded that the death was “needless and could have been prevented had the child received appropriate monitoring and intervention from medical and mental health professionals.”

“Obviously this death is a profound tragedy, but criminal charges cannot be filed simply because something terrible happened,” Karzen said. “Notwithstanding the apparent feelings of Stephanie Villafeurte and perhaps others in the civilian child protective services world in Jefferson County, prosecutors cannot file criminal charges just because they want us to do that – we have legal and ethical limits that they do not have. 

“Their legal standards for a finding of abuse or neglect in the non-criminal DHS world are not the same as the ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard applicable to criminal prosecutions, which is something I would have thought Ms. Villafuerte would know, understand and respect, as it is the law of the land.”